By Rick Reeno: Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer spoke with BoxingScene.com and explained the factors which influenced WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. (45-0, 26KOs) to pass over Amir Khan in favor of Marcos Maidana as the opponent of choice for May 3rd, likely at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Khan (28-3, 19KOs), inactive since last June after he struggled to decision Julio Diaz, was viewed for months as the frontrunner to fight Mayweather.

However, Maidana (35-3, 31KOs) made a major statement, and quickly entered the Mayweather sweepstakes, after scoring one of the biggest upsets of 2013 with a twelve round unanimous decision victory over previously undefeated Adrien Broner to capture the WBA welterweight title at the Alamodome in December. Besides handing Broner his first defeat, Maidana also scored two knockdowns in the contest.

“I actually talked to Floyd last night, I saw Floyd last night and talked to him about it. I think what it came down to, is that Maidana had such a strong performance, a statement performance against Adrien Broner, who a lot of people felt was going to be the next Floyd Mayweather, a superstar, and that still might very well be the case..no question about it,” Schaefer told BoxingScene.com.

Timothy Bradley is a cinch as Manny Pacquiao’s foe when the Filipino boxing icon returns to the ring in Las Vegas this year.
Pacquiao himself has chosen the unbeaten American over former sparring partner Russian Ruslan Provodnikov for his next fight scheduled April 12, but may still be moved to May.
“Yes, I want to fight Bradley, simply because I want to win back the title he took from me by a questionable decision,” the 35-year-old congressman from Sarangani announced during the Scoop sa Kamayan On Air radio program on dzAR.
Bradley snatched Pacquiao’s World Boxing Organization welterweight crown in 2012 by split decision that was so unpopular the WBO later formed an independent panel of judges, who went on to conclude that Pacquiao was the unanimous winner.
“Almost everybody believes that we won that fight,” Pacquiao said in Filipino. “It’s but proper that we get it (title) back for those who, like me, became victims of judges’ bum decision.”
The rematch with Bradley did not materialize as Pacquiao subsequently suffered a sixth-round knockout to arch Continue reading →

Top Rank CEO Bob Arum said that a deal is being finalized for a bout between WBO junior lightweight titleholder Mikey Garcia and respected two-time title challenger Juan Carlos Burgos.

The bout, said Arum on Wednesday, will happen on Jan. 25 at New York’s Madison Square Garden on HBO.

“That is done for Madison Square Garden,” said Arum. “The contracts were sent out today.”

Garcia (33-0, 28 knockouts) is coming off an eighth-round knockout of Roman “Rocky” Martinez last month that earned him the belt and represented his 10th stoppage victory over the course of his past 11 fights.

It was the second major title in a second weight class for Garcia, who earned THE RING and WBO featherweight titles in January by beating Orlando Salido, whom he dropped four times en route to an eight-round technical decision.

Garcia followed that victory up with a fourth-round knockout of ex-beltholder Juan Manuel Lopez in June, and could next face Burgos, who battled Martinez to a split-draw on the Garcia-Salido card. Continue reading →

By Sevak Sarkisian: Former WBC welterweight champion Victor Ortiz (29-4-2-22ko’s) will be making his long awaited return to the ring on January 30th at the Barclays center in Brooklyn New York. He will take on fellow former welterweight titlist Luis Collazo (34-5 17ko’s). The fight will be aired live on Fox sports and is an important fight for both fighters.

Victor Ortiz has not fought since June of 2012 and he’s looking to make a strong statement in his return bout by facing a fighter of Collazo’s caliber. Around 2008, Ortiz was regarded as a hot rising prospect in the 140lb division. However, in his first major step up in competition he ended up getting pummeled by Marcos Maidana and chose not to continue in round six. That incident somewhat took the luster out of Ortiz’s potential at the time but it did not stop him from fulfilling his dream of becoming a world champion.

In 2011 Ortiz moved up to the welterweight division and beat the undefeated (at the time) Andre Berto for the WBC strap. However, since than Ortiz hasn’t tasted any success in the ring losing back to back fights followed by a long Continue reading →

Brandon Rios showed no emotion for his coming fight with Manny Pacquiao but had a mouthful to say to the people around the Filipino superstar. Rios told http://www.hustleboss.com he doesn’t fear Pacquiao for what he was then and what he is now.

“I feel good. No emotion at all. I feel good, like myself, as always. I’m always ready to fight. There’s no emotion at all. I’m not scared, I’m not excited;

“I’m ready to fight. To me, it’s just another opponent in front of me. Just because he has a big name, that don’t mean sh*t to me,” Rios said in an interview.

Rios, younger and hungrier, vowed to send Pacquiao into retirement, saying it’s his time to show the world what kind of a fighter he is. Pacquiao, the only boxer to win world titles in eight different weight classes, lost to Tim Bradley and Juan Manuel Marquez last year.

Pacquiao was knocked out cold by Marquez as the bell signaled the end of round six. Pacquiao lay motionless on the floor for a couple of minutes. Some people think Pacquiao will never be the same again.

But reports coming out of Pacquiao’s training camp in General Santos City say otherwise, and Rios, coming off a loss to Mike Alvarado months back, had a lot to say.

By Milo Torres: WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (42-0-1, 30 KO’s) will be proving his worth on September 14th in facing unbeaten Floyd Mayweather Jr. (44-0, 26 KO’s). Many people don’t give Canelo his respect he deserves. Yes, he hasn’t fought a lot of not well known fighters but he is undefeated. That does not happen over night.

Mayweather is showing courage by stepping up for this fight but he knows he had to take it giving what his pay per view buys for his last fight against Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero weren’t high. The official PPV numbers haven’t been released yet but word is they are very low.

Mayweather’s PPV numbers would have been even worse in trying to go up against Canelo on September 14th, the Mexican holiday. If Mayweather hadn’t agreed to fight Canelo on this date, he would have gotten smashed by him as far as PPV buys go. How that Mayweather has decided to fight Canelo, everybody will see Canelo’s worth with this fight being hugely successful.

Floyd fans have to realize that boxers age and its time to pass the torch. Canelo put 49,000 asses in the seats in the Trout bout! For someone to be ignorant and think that is nothing is dumb. Its a great move for Mayweather economically but don’t think Canelo is Continue reading →

According to numerous reports, including statements from 2012 Trainer Of The Year, Robert Garcia, his younger brother and fighter Miguel Angel “Mikey” Garcia has signed on to clash against Puerto Rican promotional stablemate and former world champion, Juan Manuel Lopez, on June 15th at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas.

The bout will be scheduled for 12 rounds for Garcia’s WBO Featherweight Championship title – which he lifted from the man who twice stopped Lopez, in Orlando “Siri” Salido, by beating Salido via technical decision over eight rounds. Lopez(33-2, 30 KO’s), is on the comeback trail after winning his last two fights by TKO and KO, respectively. Garcia(31-0, 26 KO’s), meanwhile, is riding high off of his decisive win over Salido and is looking to keep his undefeated record in tact along with his title strapped around his waist.

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